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THX ULTRA Certified Three-way Speaker
The Ci5160RL-THX is crafted with a massive aluminium baffle to eliminate vibration and is the perfect platform for the 160mm aluminium cone Uni-Q with tangerine waveguide, and four 160mm woofers. Capable of bi-wire and bi-amplifier connections the Ci5160RL-THX delivers on the performance promise of all KEF R Series speakers.


Ci5160RL-THXFor the ultimate in custom installed Extreme Home Theatre, the formidable new Ci R Series has the jaw-dropping acoustic capabilities of the classic KEF floorstander it's named after, with all the drama and emotional intensity of full theatre sound quality.
The Ci R Series consists of an in-ceiling speaker that can be combined with one of two in-wall models, and a sensational new powered subwoofer. As you might expect, its towering performance sets a new standard for custom installed speakers. The Ci5160RL-THX is crafted with a massive aluminium baffle to eliminate vibration and is the perfect platform for the 160mm aluminium cone Uni-Q with tangerine waveguide, and four 160mm woofers. Capable of bi-wire and bi-amplifier connections the Ci5160RL-THX delivers on the performance promise of all KEF R Series speakers. |
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THX ULTRA Certified
Ci5160RL-THX is an in-wall speaker certified to THX ULTRA2 standards. A deep understanding of the filmmaking process and surround sound is at the very heart of every THX certified 2.1, 5.1 and 7.1 speaker system. Engineered with design characteristics of professional studio speakers, THX recreates the tonal balance of the filmmaker's final mix in your living room. The results? Action sequences are impactful, and dialogue-driven moments are natural and engaging. THX certified in-wall speakers deliver the appropriate frequency response and high output and imaging quality of a traditional box speaker. This provides the best of both worlds - THX surround sound performance from components that blend harmoniously with any room decor.
Ci5160RL-THX
For the ultimate in custom installed Extreme Home Theatre, the formidable new Ci R Series has the jaw-dropping acoustic capabilities of the classic KEF floorstander it's named after, with all the drama and emotional intensity of full theatre sound quality.
The Ci R Series consists of an in-ceiling speaker that can be combined with one of two in-wall models, and a sensational new powered subwoofer. As you might expect, its towering performance sets a new standard for custom installed speakers.
The Ci5160RL-THX is crafted with a massive aluminium baffle to eliminate vibration and is the perfect platform for the 160mm aluminium cone Uni-Q with tangerine waveguide, and four 160mm woofers. Capable of bi-wire and bi-amplifier connections the Ci5160RL-THX delivers on the performance promise of all KEF R Series speakers.

THX ULTRA Certified
Ci5160RL-THX is an in-wall speaker certified to THX ULTRA2 standards. A deep understanding of the filmmaking process and surround sound is at the very heart of every THX certified 2.1, 5.1 and 7.1 speaker system. Engineered with design characteristics of professional studio speakers, THX recreates the tonal balance of the filmmaker's final mix in your living room. The results? Action sequences are impactful, and dialogue-driven moments are natural and engaging. THX certified in-wall speakers deliver the appropriate frequency response and high output and imaging quality of a traditional box speaker. This provides the best of both worlds - THX surround sound performance from components that blend harmoniously with any room decor.
Write Your Own Review
Customer Reviews
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Incredible for movies and musicI've had these for about 6 months at time of writing.
Using three of these for my LRC in my 5.1.4 setup
(with six CI-200RR for surround and atmos, and an SVS subwoofer)
Pros:
* Wife loves them because they're in-wall rather than the bulky R11 equivalent.
* Being in-wall, there's no wall behind the speaker that would need acoustic treatment.
* The bass is surprisingly good. For most music, can run them as full-range and not even use the SVS subwoofer. For movies, I have crossover set at 60 Hz.
* They are incredibly powerful. I imagine I would blow out my ear drum way before these speakers would get blown.
* They are incredibly detailed and accurate.
* Astonishingly good soundstage for stereo music. Sometimes I've had to check I didn't accidentally enable 5.1 upmixing in my receiver ;)
* Most importantly, I get a movie theatre experience at home!!!
Cons:
* Unless you're paying an A/V company to install, you'll need to carefully plan the install. Make sure studs are correct distance so that speaker bracket slots in perfectly. Ensure there's enough space behind the speaker in the wall (might need to use 2x6 studs to ensure enough depth). See the document about min cabinet volume https://www.shop.us.kef.com/pub/media/wysiwyg/documents/ciseries/Ci_Minimum_Cabinet_Volume.pdf
* Hard to drive. 90dB sensitivity @ 4 Ohm is equivalent to 87dB @ 8 Ohm. Most likely you'll want your receiver to send pre-amp out to a dedicated power amp.Posted on
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Surprisingly great!!!!We decided to finish our basement last year, and these became part of the adventure. Well worth it! The local Best Buy rep was fast to tell me about these speakers, as we had a room that was 14' wide, by 42' long. but we didn't want to close the space down with towers. We almost went with the R3's in some shelves around our 120" projection screen, but we were worried they would get distorted being in 24"x 24"x 48" recessed shelf niches.
Since they didn't have any Ci5160's, or 30's to test, we kinda took the leap of faith with these, after listening to the R11's they had. They say that they are just like the towers, or at least based on the design of them. I am glad that we went this direction to get better sound. The B&W speakers sounded to high at times for us. This is our first jump into a better HiFi system, as we just have some Harmon Kardon wifi speakers that have been our Hi-Fi experience, and a Klipsch & Yamaha theater system upstairs, thus far. After setting up our system ( Marantz 6013 AVR, (2) 5160's, (1) 3160 ( actually, I wanted to do another 5160 as a center, but budget said no. I still made the back box the size of the 5160's just in case I can get another 5160 for there), (2) 200QL's, (4) 200QR's (atmos), and (1) 12b Sub, and (1) old Sony Sub) everything else around the house sound muffled, distorted and inferior. It was like moving up to a HD Plasma or 4k tv for the first time, and realizing that life is so much more better now.
I had fun installing them myself. We did install our front 3 speakers horizontally below the screen, instead of hiding them behind an expensive perforated screen. Since they were in a built-out / furred wall that was almost 3' out from the foundation wall (basically a small crawl space were there would be no sound compression (not sure if I am describing it technically correctly), I decided to make back boxes for most of the speakers. I used 1/2" MDF and followed the "Minimum air space requirements" that they have available to make the sizes correct for each speaker. We used Audioquest 14/4 speaker wires (twisted together) from the AVR.
Our next project is to determine if we should get more power to them via 2nd amp (Marantz or Arcam), or just upgrade to a new Denon 8500 AVR. As of right now, The system sounds GREAT as is, but could there be more to get out of these speakers....?
I laugh at this experience, as I originally went in there looking for theater speakers, and nothing more, now I find myself wanting more HiFi music experiences as well, because it sounds that great. Does that mean more clean power?, More speakers (currently running 5.2.4; but the basement is wired for 9.2.4 )? The adventure continues....!!Posted on
Model | Ci5160RL-THX |
Nominal Impedance | 4Ω |
Sensitivity (2.83V/ 1m) | 90dB |
Frequency response (±6dB) open-backed |
40Hz - 28kHz |
Crossover frequency | 300Hz, 2.4kHz |
Drive units LF MF HF |
4 x 160mm (6.5 in.) 160mm (6.5 in.) 25mm (1 in.) Uni-Q |
Recommended Amplifier Power | 40-250W |
Product external dimensions (H x W x D) |
1070 x 230 x 105.7 mm (42.13 x 9.06 x 4.16 in.) |
Product external dimensions (with Grille) (H x W x D) |
1073 x 242 x 112.4 mm (42.24 x 9.53 x 4.43 in.) |
Cut-out dimensions (H x W) |
1052 x 209mm (41.42 x 8.23 in.) |
Net Weight | 19 kg (41.89 lbs) |
Mounting depth from surface | 99mm (3.9 in.) |
KEF reserves the right, in line with continuing research and development, to amend or change specifications. E&OE. THX, the THX logo, and Ultra2 are trademarks of THX Ltd. THX and the THX logo are registered in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. All rights reserved. |
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KEF Custom Install THX Speaker Review
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Info Sheet | • Open In New Window • Download |
Manual | • Open In New Window • Download |
Cutout Template | • Open In New Window • Download |
Ci Series Brochure | • Open In New Window • Download |
Ci Series Specification Sheet | • Open In New Window • Download |
Ci Series Minimum Cabinet Volume Chart | • Open In New Window • Download |
Rough-In Frame Installation Guide | • Open In New Window • Download |
Ci Accessory Guide | • Open In New Window • Download |
Product Drawing | • Download |